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Editor's Note

The diet of the medieval people was very different form ours today. They lived in a time where people grew their own food, and were sometimes in danger of starvation; the diet of an individual depends on his social status; and feasts were an important part of people's social life. This issue focuses on what the Anglo-Saxons ate, how they dealt with food, and how significant food and dining were to them.

Ye Andleofamedieval magazine

Marlee PabicoEditor/Writer

Uzziel DelamideDania GaliciaAaron GarciaIrina Herras

Writers

References

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/saxons/food.htmhttp://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/1001Duncan.htmhttp://regia.org/life/feasting.htmhttp://www.regia.org/feastingandfasting.htm

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Cooking in the Past

Rags and Riches

Feasting, Medieval Style

A Day of Sacrifice

Gooseberry Fool

To make a Gooseberry FoolTake a pint and an half of gooseberries clean picked from the stalks, put them into a skillet with a pint and half of fair Water, scald them till they be very ten-der, then bruise them well in the Water, and boil them with a pound and half of fine sugar till it be of a good thickness, then put to it the yolks of six eggs and a pint of cream, with a nutmeg quartered, stir these well together till you think they be enough, over a slow fire, and put it into a dish, and when it is cold, eat it.

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Contents

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Cooking

s we all know, the Saxons had so many delicious food. What ingredients did they have in their time? Let’s check

in the

PastAit out!

The Saxons grew plants like wheat for bread and barley for brewing. They grew oats for animal fodder and porridge too. In their time, they did not have as many vegetables as we have now. They only have garlic, carrot, cabbage, but these vegetables were very organic. Their carrots were purplish red and small. The cabbages were of wild variety and the leaves were small unlike the cabbages that we are eating nowadays. The apples, plums, cherries, and sloes were small as we have today.

They had different varieties of fish like herring, salmon, eel and perch; pike and plaice. Some of these fish are extinct. They ate the fish raw but sometimes they preserved it by salting, pickling, smoking and drying. How did they catch those fish? The

river fish were caught in nets while fish-spears were caught in wicker traps. Large sea fish were caught in big nets that float in the sea. They also hunted whales and dolphins not only for their meat, but also for the whalebone and fat.

The meat that they ate in their time was like the meat that we are eating today. The most important meat that they had were the pigs because they fattened more quickly than the other animals. But in the Saxon period, the number of pigs slowly decreased. They had cows too that produced ten times more meat than goats, sheep, and beef meat. As the pigs decreased, cow meat grew increasingly. Hens, duck, and geese provided eggs, and they used the meat for cooking while their hollow bones were used to make musical instruments such as the pipes. Wild birds were eaten too such as plover, grouse, and herons.

In their time, the Saxons did not have as many vegetables as we have now.

by aaron garcia

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hen they say the Anglo-Saxons were vegetarians, does that mean all of them were? The Anglo-Saxons were W

mostly vegetarian for a reason. Not everyone was able to find meat for slaughter, and not everyone could afford to slaughter an animal.

The Anglo-Saxons lived off what they had grown, which was mainly composed of cereals like wheat, rye, barley and oats; vegetables like carrots, parsnip, cabbages, peas, beans and onions; and fruit such as apples, cherries and plums. Exotic foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, pineapples - fruits and vegetables of the New World, were unknown to the Anglo-Saxons.

The wealthier Anglo-Saxons could afford to eat more than just home-grown foods. When the ordinary Anglo-Saxons would drink weak beer instead of water, the wealthier Anglo-Saxons would drink imported wine. When the ordinary Anglo-Saxons would eat vegetables, the wealthier Anglo-Saxons would eat venison and other kinds of meat.

Wealth in the Anglo Saxon world was based on agriculture and food trade, so a feast would be a display of the affluence and capability of a household. Feasts were not just for the aristocracy, often large spreads were put out for the laboring peasants at harvest time by their rulers. The feast was an act of hospitality, and as such played an important part in the social values of Early Medieval English culture.

RagsRiches

&

Exotic foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, pineapples - fruits

and vegetables of the New World, were unknown to the Anglo-Saxons.

by irina herras

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Feasting,easts were a regular part of the Anglo-Saxons everyday life. It was their way of celebrating practically anything

embellishing the food to show the status and capability of the feast-giver and his guests. Simpler editions of the ornate dishes were made for those guests of lower rank. Imagine a banquet of meat, roasts, rich sauces, cheeses, fish, sweet meats, salads, quality bread, and bottomless drinking horns of ale, beer, mead, and wine!

The feast officially starts with the blowing of a horn to signal the guests to enter and wash their hands. There were rules of etiquette even then. The Anglo-Saxons observed a seating order, the proper use of napkins, table-cloths, how to eat, and what to do if food fell from the table. During the early part of this period women did not have a place at the table They were restricted from dining with the guests. Only the men can dine at the table while the women act as cup-bearers serving drinks to the guests.

Medieval Style

(From left clockwise) Painting of a feast hall; drinking horn; ornate dishes served by cooks; cutting meat; banquet of meats and roasts

Funder the sun. Both the rich and the poor held feasts of their own and sometimes the lords put out feasts for his labourers. Every person had the privilege to enjoy good food at a feast regardless of one’s social status.

An ideal feast was held in great halls decorated with fine wall hangings, dense and colorful curtains, and kept warm with furnaces and lamps. Feasts held by the peasants were more humble because these were held outdoors or inside their houses. It seemed, from written evidence of the period, that the feast day food was always anticipated for you can always look forward to eating better food in greater quantities. The cooks would display considerable skills in making and

by marlee pabico

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Feasting,An old poem about a coronation feast stated that “Stomachs

are filled with delicacies, minds with songs.” After a hearty and fulfilling meal, the people expected entertainment and would enjoy themselves with an array of story-tellers, musicians, jesters, actors, dancers, and singers. Great celebrations such as mentioned can last for three days although the day-long feasts were more common. Sometimes guests were not allowed to leave the feast not after the lord has retired to bed.

Later on, when Catholicism flourished among the Saxons, the Church converted these pagan feasts into the celebrations for weddings, baptism and betrothals. The Church also gave feasts to the poor wherein they celebrated the abundant harvests and other agricultural events.

Medieval Style

“Stomachs are filled with delicacies,

minds with songs.”

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efore the glorious and anticipated feast, the Anglo-Saxons observed a day of fasting to precede it. The patterns of

A Dayof Sacrifice

Bfasting and feasting were part of everyday life. Longer periods of fasting came before periods of feasting and only the infirm and children were excused.

There were three forms of fasting, one which excluded the eating of certain foods, one which only allowed the eating of one limited meal a day, and, the one most difficult for the modern mind and stomach, that which demanded the food to have unpalatable additions.

The reason for fasting was mostly connected with church observations. There was also the practical reason that, at a time of year when food was short, to fast would be a help, in the mind at least. The idea was for those who over-eat to, by fasting, free up supplies for the poor. The church found all sorts of evidence as to why meat was not always eaten - Adam's sin of gluttony, angels not needing food, Cain's cruelty and, of course, the forty day fast of Christ in the wilderness.

The importance is evident since it was part of the priest's duties to tell the people of the days of fasting. If he failed to do so he could be fined. This is one of the reasons for the introduction of the calendars for fast and feast days being developed. Friday fasting by not eating meat, was common to all and indeed it was said that to violate the rule was the most visible way to reject the faith.

Food for fast days varied for the rich although the poor may not have noticed the difference so much especially if they lived in an area away from the sea and so had limited access to fish.

by uzziel delamide

In areas where fish was available it was often caught in times of plenty and smoked or salted for use later, the poor ate this mixed with linseed or grape oil as fast-day food. A total Vegan diet was not usual although there are recipes for meals needing no meat, eggs or diary products. Some fast days only required that the number of meals a day were cut to one and then it could have three or four courses. The amount of food and the time when it was to be consumed was considered and special rules applied to those needing to keep up their strength because of the manual work they undertook. This even applied to some monks and to those who had not taken their final vows. Rules of the time say that, in some cases, two should share the bowl for one but that the dish should have meat puddings and sausages. For others, and if no such things are available, then they should have sufficient soft cheese, fish and whatever vegetable dishes are available instead.

The reason for fasting was mostly

connected with church observations. There was also the practical reason

that, at a time of year when food was short,

to fast would be a help, in the mind at least.

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Pudding of Goose Blood

To make a Pudding of Goose BloodSave the blood of a goose, and strain it, then put in fine oatmeal steeped in warm milk, nutmeg, pepper, sweet herbs, sugar, salt, suet minced fine, rosewa-ter, limon pill, coriander seeds, then put in some eggs, and beat all these togeth-er very well, then boil them how you do like, either in a buttered cloth or in skins, or roast it within the neck of the goose.

Boiled Pigeons

To make Boiled PigeonsTake your largest pigeons and cut them in halves, wash them and dry them, then boil a little water and salt with some whole spice, and a little faggot of sweet herbs, then put in your pigeons and boil them, and when they are enough, take some boiled parsley shred small, some sweet butter, claret wine, and an anchovy, heat them together, then put in the yolks of eggs, and make it thick over the fire, then put in your pigeons into a dish.

all recipes compiled by dania galicia

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